Junto Capital Management LP Sells 184,257 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Junto Capital Management LP has reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 23.0%, now holding 618,130 shares valued at approximately $78.99 million.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings by 17.0%, bringing its total to over 34 million shares valued at around $4.36 billion.
• Ross Stores reported earnings of $1.56 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 scheduled for September 30th.

Junto Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 618,130 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 184,257 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores comprises 1.7% of Junto Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Junto Capital Management LP owned 0.19% of Ross Stores worth $78,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 25,330 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,832,000 after acquiring an additional 2,869 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 160,750 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $24,317,000 after acquiring an additional 26,817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $150.73. 2,647,726 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,129,854. The stock has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $138.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.52. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.71%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company's Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.